Skirmish - A Poppy O'Possum Fanfiction
by Julian McQueen
Summary: Another attempt to do grimdark. Set before the events of the webcomic, during Friedrich Zarigueya's last tour of war. Crodilus Panzer had caused massive issues between the provinces of Flora and Fauna right before his supposed death, but his actions not only had an impact on the provinces, but on Friedrich himself. (WARNING: CONTAINS GORE, CHARACTER RAPE, AND BODY HORROR.)


Crodilus Panzer sniffed and rubbed his neck as he walked out of his tent, the light of the rising sun coming off in the distance. He took a moment and surveyed his camp. Everything seemed to be in order, the canine mercenaries he gathered and deceived were preparing themselves with swords and armor, readying themselves for the upcoming battle. The clamor of his men mixed with the clanging of steel and chains. In the distance, Panzer saw a few of his men surrounding the large metal cage, prodding at the grey and tan withering masses within in and laughing.

Panzer walked over to a nearby watering hole and disrobed, rinsing himself in the cool water, and washing away the filth of last night. Today was the big day. After months of planning and after several heavy losses, this was going to be the battle that would finally win him the war. It wouldn't be long before Flora would fall, and so would her king. Panzer smirked at the thought of that massive tree in flames as his armies surrounded it, but he stopped when he sensed a presence nearby.

"Show yourself, witch." Panzer muttered, running the water over his head. A female Octopus emerged from the water and smiled.

"My, and I thought Flora's soldiers were built…" She giggled.

"I don't care what King Darling's men look like, Poda." Panzer turned to her, his glare set towards his envoy. "I only care how many there are. Give me a damn number already…"

Poda floated around Panzer, her tentacles wrapping around the crocodile's intense frame. "Only about 10,000 men, most of them are trained in magic. You'll be fine." She rested her head on Panzer's shoulder. "I trust the Specter's tip was worth its weight~?" She simpered.

Panzer brushed the octopus off. "Yes it was. My men managed to round up nearly every chucking one of the vermin in Fauna. Normally they'd be used as cannon fodder, but…" He walked out of the watering hole and began to redress. Poda tilted her head and smiled, admiring the view. "King Darling's a fool to oversee such an opportunity to win this war. And for what purpose, to ease his ailing, burdened heart?" He turned to Poda, smiling. "It'll be his loss in the end."

Poda floated up to Panzer, handing him a photo. "And these are the commanders of that army." She explained. "Royal Captain Leon Hawke, Captain Friedrich Zarigueya, and Captain Marcus Moonshine."

Panzer rose the photo up to get a better look. "Leave it to King Darling to make an opossum a commander…" He mused. "He's just making it easier and easier…"

"Don't judge him just yet…" Poda smirked. "Supposedly he's a remarkable swordsman, and he's skilled with magic as well…"

Panzer looked at the octopus with a confused look. "Magic?"

"Yeah, he's a different breed of opossum, a gamba. They mostly reside in Trance, and they apparently can use magic, although it's limited..."

Panzer let out a small laugh. "Opossums who can use magic, maybe that soft-hearted king has a method behind his madness after all..."

Poda took the photo back. "I hope you'll hold your end of the deal in exchange for all of this, sweetie…" She whispered.

The crocodile crossed his arms. "Yeah, I know. Your boss can have all of King Darling's secrets, while I have control of Fauna." He began heading back to the camp. "Now, if you have nothing else productive to say, I'll need to ready my men."

Poda simply muttered, "Good luck~!" Before sinking back into the watering hole. "You'll need it…."

* * *

As Panzer returned back to the camp, he headed straight back to his tent and retrieved his signature helmet, and donned it immediately. He then marched towards the giant cage, which upon closer view revealed to be filled with hundreds of opossums, men, women, and even children. They were all squirming and clamoring, sticking their arms through the cages in futile attempts to escape their prison. Surrounding the cage were a few of Panzer's soldiers, cruel canines who poked sticks and blades at the opossums through the cage bars.

Panzer approached one of the soldiers, who immediately dropped his stick, turned around, and stood stiff at the sight of Panzer. "Sir!"

"How are the vermin?" Panzer asked.

The fox looked back at the cage. "Well, five of them of them… died last night." He responded. "B-But we were still able to... process them successfully." The soldier's ears flattened. "However, I'm still uncertain if we'll have enough for all of our forces…"

Panzer tilted his head. "Well, how successful was the devitalizing?" He mused.

"About fifteen to twenty bottles each, depending on age range, sir…" The soldier responded, pulling a bottle of dark red fluid from his pocket and handing it to Panzer.

"And what were the results?"

"Well, it appears the witch was correct, sir."

Panzer took the bottle, weighing it in his hand. "Then there shouldn't be any problems." He responded, before placing it in his own pocket. He moving towards the cage and looking at the caged vermin writhing inside it. "And even if we run out, the men who aren't anointed will work perfectly as a way throw Flora's forces off guard…" He noticed as a hand suddenly grabbed hold of his black trench coat. He looked down and saw a young opossum woman looking straight at him, her eyes shimmered with terror, and an opossum girl had clung to her leg.

"W-WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!" She shrieked. "WE'VE DONE NOTHING TO YOU!"

Panzer paused for a moment before he lifted his free foot and brought it down hard on the opossum's forearm, snapping her arm with a sickening crack. The soldier winced as the sound her arm breaking, exposing bone and blood.

The opossum screamed in pain and pulled away, retreating back into the flood of prisoners. Panzer watched as two other opossum women tried to comfort her with no avail, and the opossum's spot was quickly replaced by another prisoner. Panzer gazed at the specks of blood on his hand, and the soldier could hear a low sigh emit from Panzer.

A chill ran down the solder's spine.

He turned to the soldier. "We will attack at noon." He snapped. "Begin to process them at once."

* * *

General Leon Hawke shielded his eyes with a spell-made hand as the sun shone directly above them. Flora's army was stationed just above a barren valley, and scouts had reported that Panzer's forces had be stationed on the other side, and had begun approaching.

"Damn." He muttered to himself. "I thought we'd have more time…" He turned and entered the commander's tent, where his two captains were already discussing battle plans.

"And if we have a quarter of the army here," Captain Zarigueya tried to explain to Captain Moonshine, prodding the map laid out on the table. "Then we could ambush them and leave them open for a frontal assault!"

"Or…" Captain Moonshine disagreed. "They could give our main forces a weak point!"

"Not if we fortify our defenses!" Friedrich snapped in his defense.

"But we don't have the time or resources to do that now!" Marcus hissed. "Panzer's army's closing in as we speak!"

"Enough, both of you!" Hawke snapped, bringing both captains to silence. He turned to Friedrich. "Captain Zarigueya, I respect your strategy, and I agree that it would be effective, but we cannot mobilize an ambush this close to battle without the enemy forces seeing us."

Friedrich stood firm, but he clenched his fists in embarrassment. "We will push forward and put our battlemages at the front lines. Their sorcery is what will win us the battle." Leon gave the military salute, one arm behind his back and one towards his head.

"For the glory of Flora." Leon spoke.

"For the glory of Flora..." Friedrich muttered.

"For the glory of Flora!" Marcus shouted.

* * *

Marcus, Fredrich, and Leon stood behind their forces as they watched Panzer's army approaching, it was only a grey dot across the barren valley. "Scouts report they have only 7,000 men." Marcus muttered to Friedrich. "This is going to be a piece of cake."

Friedrich looked at Marcus and smirked. "Don't get cocky, Moonshine." He replied. "This isn't like Tros, 7,000 is more than enough to still cause problems. And besides, apparently Crodilus Panzer's leading this attack himself."

Marcus waved his hand lazily. "I know, I know. I just want to get home soon. I got a girl waiting for me." He grinned as if he struck gold. "We're gonna have a baby."

Friedrich rose an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "Oh really? Do you at least know the name of this one?"

Marcus glared daggers at Friedrich. "Very funny, gamba. If you must know, it's Lisa."

"I thought Lisa didn't want to speak with you again after you got with Leticia… and Agnes… twice…"

"We made up…" Marcus smirked. "Anyway, what about your wife, how is she doing?"

Friedrich smiled warmly. "Well, from the last letter from her, she'll be expecting again in a few weeks…"

Marcus slapped his forehead. "Again? Man, what is with opossums and having so many damn babies? How many kids do you have now…?"

Friedrich chuckled. "If everything goes well, we'll have thirteen."

"Thirteen kids, huh?" Marcus looked towards the approaching army, which was clearly visible now. "Well, I better hope our kids'll get to play together after this…"

Friedrich's smile dropped, and he drew one of his swords, pointing it forwards.

"SOLDIERS! FORWARD MARCH!"

The army of Goat, Ram and Canine soldiers moved forward, riding tall brown thorses, their silver armor glistening in the sunlight. They marched towards Fauna's forces, his men, with their dark silver armor, seemed almost a direct contrast in appearance to Flora's shimmering soldiers. Friedrich and Marcus rode behind them, awaiting until they were only a few feet away from their enemy's forces.

Finally, the two armies were only a few feet apart before Marcus and Friedrich rose their sabers.

"ATTACK!" Marcus shouted.

"ENGAGE!" Friedrich yelled.

Flora's men yelled as they ran towards the forces of Fauna, and all hell broke loose. Almost instantly, the silence barren valley was replaced with a cacophony of clashing blades and the shouts of men from both sides. It wasn't long before the soldiers of Flora began using magic, fireballs soared across the perfectly blue sky, and flashes of light burst throughout the battlefield.

Marcus conjured a fireball and planted it in a foxes face as he drew a dagger and drove it in another Faunan soldier's chest. He ducked as a wolf tried to cut him with a battle axe, but Marcus simply threw the enchanted dagger into the wolf's throat and picked up the battle axe. He turned and flung it at a fox who was too distracted trying to rip a goat's throat out, and it stuck him in the head.

Friedrich was forced to draw his second blade, and he drove both of them through two Faunan knights. He quickly pulled away as a fox swung wildly at him. Friedrich swung one of his blades at him, the blood on the blade flicked into the fox's eyes. Stunned, the fox tried to wipe the blood from his eyes, only to have Friedrich kick him in the stomach and slash at his face.

* * *

Panzer ripped through another Floran soldier with his broadsword, the blade splitting him in half. A soldier tried to electrocute him with magic, but Panzer quickly turned around and grabbed the soldier head, snapping his neck in the process. He lifted the soldier's lifeless body and flung it at a group of soldiers. For a second, Panzer looked around and quickly surveyed the battle. The brute force of the Faunan soldiers was no match for the sorcery of the Florian soldiers. Every one soldier his forces killed, his forces would lose two. It wouldn't be long before they would be crushed.

Which is why it would be the perfect time to turn the tables around.

Panzer reached into his pocket and pulled out the red bottle. He examined it carefully before raising it aloft.

"SOLDIERS OF FAUNA!" He bellowed, his thumb breaking the neck of the bottle. "ANOINT YOURSELVES AND BRING YOURSELVES GLORY!" He then proceeded to pour the crimson liquid upon himself, letting out a loud sigh as the crimson fluid ran down his body. A soldier tried to fling a fireball at him, only for it to dissipate before touching him. Seeing this, Panzer couldn't help but laugh as he drew his broadsword and lunge at the now horrified soldier.

Marcus looked in confusion as he saw Panzer's men douse themselves in red fluid. He threw a spell bolt at one, and the spell dissipated before it even touched him. Marcus felt a twinge of fear in his stomach as he tried to understand what happened. But as he did, he watched as the Florian soldiers around him began to be decimated. These soldiers, trained specifically in the magical arts, were only sub-par with physical blades training, which even then had some form of magical substance to it. Panzer's men now had an advantage, and they were using it to their full advantage. Then he turned around and saw something that made his stomach drop.

"Oh no… Pleas-"

* * *

Commander Hawke watched from the upper campsite, and he gritted his beak as he watched Panzer's forces get the upper hand.

"Damn it all… I can't believe Panzer would resort to…" He turned away and quickly activated a communication spell.

"THIS IS COMMANDER LEON HAWKE! WE ARE EXPERIENCING HEAVY LOSSES AND NEED REINFORCEMENTS! I REPEAT, WE NEED REINFORCEMENTS NOW! CONTACT THE FORTRESS IMMEDIATELY, WE NEED MADAMA SIV- urk!"

However, Leon's message was suddenly cut short as a pair of tentacles wrapped around the avian's neck. "Sorry, 'general'." Poda apologized, kissing the commander on the beak before snapping his neck. "Can't let you do that. Too much interference, you see." Poda lifted Leon's body and flung it off the cliff, into the battlefield.

"Bye-bye, birdie~!"

* * *

Friedrich finally found respite from the chaos in a nearby gully, where none of the fighting seemed to occur, but the corpses of a few soldiers seemed to lie around. He took a moment to catch his breath and try to understand what had happened. It seemed Flora had the advantage for a moment, that they were winning. But now Panzer was winning, his forces had the advantage, they poured what looked like crimson water on themselves and magic became useless. This meant that Friedrich only had his single blade to protect him, but even then he was at a disadvantage. He attempted to look down the gully to check for any soldiers, and his eyes widened at what he saw.

There, lying in the middle of the gully, was the body of Marcus.

Friedrich quickly ran towards Marcus and kneeled down to the cat. His face was caked with blood and he could barely speak.

"Marcus! It's me Friedrich! Hang on, I'm going to get you out of here!"

Marcus opened his eyes and flinched when he saw Friedrich. "N-No! Get… out… here..."

Friedrich tried to lift Marcus up. "No without you-"

Marcus tried to push Friedrich away. "No… t-trap… run…"

Friedrich furrowed his brow. "Trap?" He asked quietly, before a broadsword suddenly landed in Marcus stomach. Marcus seized and gurgled for a moment before he fell limp.

Friedrich looked up in horror as Panzer stood before him, his black trench coat shimmered with crimson stains. "Ah! There you are, opossum!" He spoke, his voice sounding like a child finding their favorite toy. "I've been looking for you. I was worried somebody already killed you…"

Friedrich stood up and drew his blade. "You bastard…!" Friedrich snarled.

Panzer tilted his head. "Really, that's all you're going to say? 'You bastard?'" Panzer walked forward and pulled the blade out from Marcus' corpse. "I bet the next word out of your mouth will probably be, 'I'll kill you!' right?"

Friedrich said nothing.

Panzer let out an amused grunt. "Let's get this over with…"

Friedrich dissipated instantly and reappeared behind Panzer and attempted to backstab him. Panzer brought his broadsword behind him and blocked it. "Heh, I guess the witch was right… Opossums that can use magic…"

Friedrich let out a small growl and disappeared again. Reappearing in front of him with a lunging strike, which Panzer blocked. However, Friedrich suddenly disappeared before the attack connected and reappeared above Panzer, cutting his right shoulder. Panzer flinched and he felt another cut to his side, and another to his helmet.

"That's getting annoying…" Panzer muttered, an idea suddenly springing to mind.

He reached in his pocket as Friedrich appeared and slashed him on the back, and pulled out the bottle from before. It was only half empty, and a bit of blood on the top had coagulated around the broken neck of the bottle.

As Friedrich reappeared in an attempt to stab him once again. Panzer swung the bottle at his face.

Friedrich attempted to avoid the bottle, but it was too late, and the bottle shattered before him, slicing up his face and coating him with the crimson fluid. His stepped back as the crimson fluid coated him, he tried to use his teleportation magic, but it was useless. Even his sword fighting skills that were supplemented by magic to improve his dexterity failed, and the sword suddenly felt heavier in his hands.

But that wasn't the jarring part, as Friedrich suddenly smelled the strong metallic scent of blood around him. The smell of the crimson fluid hit his nostrils.

It was... blood.

He looked up at Panzer in confusion and shock. The crocodile stood there, watching Friedrich's reaction to the liquid. as he proceeded to remove his helmet and throw it to the ground, as well as drop his sword.

"Yeah, it's blood." Panzer answered with a smile. "Opossum blood."

Friedrich's eyes widened in horror and he suddenly glanced at his hands, the crimson blood turned his brown gloves almost black.

"Apparently opossums have a trait that allows them to absorb and negate the magical properties of things around them." Panzer explained, slowly and patiently. "It's part of their body composition, and their blood has similar properties…"

"We rounded up nearly a thousand of the pouchers." He continued, "Men, women… children." He spoke with great emphasis on the last word. His mouth drew back to show a humongous row of pointed teeth, which shimmered like ivory daggers.

"And we juiced them all, down to the last drop."

Friedrich nearly dropped his sword upon realization. Nearly all of Panzers soldiers, nearly 7,000 men, had opossum blood. He looked at Panzer and the crocodile smiled. Friedrich gripped his sword and lunged at Panzer, a mixture of disgust and rage blocking his common sense. Panzer simply gripped Friedrich's arm, the gamba's sword stopping inches from Panzer's muzzle.

"Oops." Panzer mocked Friedrich, as he suddenly twisted Friedrich's arm. Friedrich let out a cry as he felt his forearm snap. Panzer let out a grunt and twisted his arm further. Friedrich yelled again as he felt his elbow pop. His shoulder felt like it was on fire. He tried to grasp Panzer's arm with his other arm, but it was useless. Without magic, Panzer was just too strong. And he knew it as well.

"Heh, I seem to have a penchant for breaking things today." Panzer whispered, before he finally twisted Friedrich's arm a final time.

Friedrich let out an almost deafening cry as his shoulder split apart, exposing torn muscle and dislocated bone. Panzer let go of Friedrich's arm and the gamba stepped back. He stood there for a moment, his functional hand clasped to his face, his mind disoriented from the pain and shock. His right arm, now twisted and maimed, was still grasping tightly to his sword, the remaining few connected sinews and strings of muscle were pulled and stretched, but did not break. Friedrich fell to his knees and vomited, the pain passing his threshold.

Panzer let out a sigh, and walked up to Friedrich, grabbing him by the hair and lifting him up to his feet. He looked the gamba in his eyes, which were glossy and bloodshot. He took a thumb and drove in into Friedrich's shoulder wound. "Wake up." He growled.

Friedrich snapped out of it and sluggishly attempted to hit Panzer with his left arm, but it did nothing. Panzer smiled and removed the thumb, examining the blood on it.

"Huh, I wonder that your blood is like…" He mused, licking the blood of his thumb. Friedrich shuddered weakly, his arm and facial wounds had ceased bleeding vigorously, but his body was about spent. He couldn't fight anymore, and he prayed that Panzer would give him a quick death.

Suddenly, Panzer through Friedrich to the ground, and squatted above him. "In fact…" He whispered, grabbing at Friedrich's uniform. With a quick pull, he ripped it open, exposing Friedrich's chest. Friedrich suddenly sprung back to life at this sudden exposure and tried to hit Panzer again. Panzer responded this time, grabbing the gamba's functioning arm and pinning it above him.

"If you don't want to lose both arms, you'll stop that." He snarled. "I'm trying to enjoy myself here."

Friedrich gazed with horror as Panzer's muzzle hovered over Friedrich's chest and inhaled. The gamba shuddered as Panzer dragged his tongue across Friedrich's abdomen and up to his neck. The crocodile reveled in feeling tasting his prey, in feeling Friedrich's hear pound in fear, hear him shudder and breathe.

Panzer let out a soft chuckle and got up, pulling Friedrich up him. He looked around for a moment and after noticing a spot, slammed Friedrich against gully wall. Panzer then took Friedrich's broken arm and stabbed the sword into the gully wall, effectively pinning Friedrich to the wall.

He stepped back and observed Friedrich, who tried to pull his arm away from the wall with no avail. After watching him struggle for a while, Panzer walked back up to him and whispered in the gamba's ear.

"Let's get this over with, ok…?" He said, gripping Friedrich's pants and ripping them downwards.

As soon as he realized what was about to happen, Friedrich began struggling harder, But it was to no avail as Panzer grasped Friedrich's hips and positioned himself accordingly, spitting into his hand and applying it to his member.

"You know, I've always thought why we have war…" Panzer spoke, as he penetrated Friedrich.

Friedrich screamed, he screamed harder than when his arm got twisted, and when his shoulder spilt. He felt the burning pain as Panzer drove himself down to the hilt, and began thrusting. His eyes blurred with tears and he let out a sharp cry with every thrust.

"I mean, why do we do this, pit armies against each other? What is the point?"

Friedrich felt Panzer's pace pick up, his ass felt as if it was being stabbed repeatedly with a large sword. He felt Panzer's claws move upwards, moving from his hips to his sides. They sunk in and drew blood.

"I know why. It's all about power. The power to turn your enemy to ruin, to make them know how strong you are."

Friedrich tried to think of his family, his children. His wife was going to give birth soon. He was going to be a father again. He was going to let Marcus' children play with his. Marcus is dead.

"But power isn't always just being a brilliant tactician, it is sometimes given from BRUTE. FORCE." Panzer emphasized the last two words with two hard thrusts, eliciting a cry from Friedrich with each one.

"Sometime, direct force is what's needed… to show power." Panzer's voice was getting course and rushed. His climax was approaching soon. He had done this countless times with the opossum vermin that opposed him, but there was something about doing this with Friedrich. Was it the fact that he had such a high position in Flora? Whatever it was, he had no intention to kill him.

He just wanted to break him, make him beg. He wanted to make Friedrich remember for the rest of his life that despite his status and skill, he was still vermin, and he was always going to be vermin.

"That is what war is for, to show… power. To prove to those who defy you how strong you are."

Friedrich felt Panzer's claws drag across his back, his body literally throbbed in pain. Friedrich shut his eyes as tears slowly formed and he muttered the words that Panzer wanted to hear…

"P-Please…" Friedrich begged. "Please j-just stop..."

Panzer let out a loud roar and reached his climax, filling Friedrich with his seed and relieving himself.

Panzer stood still as he finished unloading, he then proceeded to pull out, but was dissapointed when he didn't hear a cry from his prey.

He stepped back and crossed his arms in satisfaction as he saw Friedrich sink to his knees, his body shuddered as he began sobbing quietly. His entire life was just trashed before him. He was a confident soldier, respected and admired by his peers and superiors. This battle was supposed to be a quick skirmish, intended to end the conflict with Fauna and stop Panzer. But Panzer had the advantage, and he won. He won the battle, and he turned Friedrich into…

Panzer looked up at the sky and saw a heavenly light as the sigil of Sivanna suddenly appeared. "Hm… I should probably go." He looked back down at Friedrich. Panzer lifted his foot and kicked Friedrich's face into the gully wall. "Take care, 'Captain' Zarigueya." He laughed as he walked away.

The last thing Friedrich saw was Panzer donning his helmet and talking away as a beam of white light blasted him, before everything turned black.

* * *

Friedrich approached the Carriage and opened it for Queen Kit, who bounced out of the carriage and into the luxury suite of the canopy arena. It was a suite fit for a king, or a queen in this case. It was complete with lounge chairs, a television, and a perfect view of the arena from a balcony.

Awaiting them was an arena patron, who stood inside the suite. "Your Majesty," she bowed. "I trust everything is in order…"

Kit walked up and shook the patron's hand. "I'm sure it's perfect!" She exclaimed. She turned to Friedrich. "Could you please ensure all the luggage is out of the cart, please?"

Friedrich bowed. "As you wish, your Majesty." Friedrich walked up to the carriage and looked inside to find only a tiny, pink, satchel inside.

As he walked inside, he saw that one of the guards was watching the television. He walked up to the guard and cleared his throat.

"Oh-uh-uh Captain!" The guard stammered, searching for the remote. "I was just, uh I…"

"It's OK Friedrich!" Kit shouted from the balcony, "Luis and Henry are here, it's ok as long at they take turns! Take a seat and relax!"

Friedrich groaned and glared at the guard as he sat in the recliner next to him. "At least watch the news." He muttered as the guard switched the channel for him.

"In recent news, once again the Fauna region shows signs of instability, with once presumed Crodilus Panzer confirmed as leading the rebel strikes."

Friedrich's hand gripped the recliner as he heard that name. He hadn't heard it in years, and now it just returned as if it was yesterday. He never told anyone what happened, what Panzer did to him. Even Friedrich himself began to believe it didn't happen to him, and then this morning's report occurred and…

"Change the channel…" He muttered.

"Fennicland's royal family commented earlier this morning, stating the conflicts will not impact-"

"B-But you said..."

"I said change the channel." Friedrich growled, snatching the remote from the guard and changing the channel.

"Sorry sir…" The guard apologized.

Friedrich got up and approached Henry, one of Kit's other guards. The two of them switched and Friedrich stood beside Queen Kit. Kit looked up at Friedrich.

"Are you ok, Friedrich?" Kit asked. "Is something wrong?"

Friedrich looked down at Kit and smiled briefly. "I just caught the news on the television, Your Majesty. It's... nothing." He looked back up as he noticed a rather buff looking opossum with blue overalls enter the ring.

He let out a small sigh. "No ma'am, nothing at all."


End file.
